I am almost done reading it and loving it. To me, you just have to keep in mind that it's fiction. It does really make you think about how much we put God in a box though. I would recommend it!
I am finding it a bit boring, but some areas are okay.. I am at the 11th chapter. It seems to talk in circles.. and yes reminding yourself it is fiction keeps you from getting angry at the writer hahah! But seriously I think I have the book figured out and I hate it when I figure the outcome before I am done... thats why I like Brandilynn Collins books cause her Christian suspense books keep you on the edge of your seat all the way to the last chapter!
WOW...I can't believe you find it boring.....I didn't feel that way at all! lol Also....note...the author is a neighbor of someone's parents that go to my church. (you know.....a friend of a friend of a friend!! LOL) NO, really, and the author came to our church. His book is fiction, but a lot of what is in it are things he experienced in his own life. I thought that was kind of cool....
well not bored anymore it picked up a bit as I went into 11 and 12... its more clear, it seemed for a while it was just a jumble of information, some which was clear some which was hazy, but I was wondering if the author was doing that to show us what a mess his life was in at the time too.. becuase it seems as he figures out the things in his life that need fixing, well the words seem to be more flowing, easier to read and calmer... I can tell he got into his writing thats for sure! The discriptions were too detailed I think is why it bored me a bit there.. But now he is realizing things and feeling more peace an understanding a few areas he has been wrong and needed change... you can actually feel what he is going through , I think at this point. So maybe it was just a couple chapters that got me bored... like it was repetative and stuff.. I wanted to say hey guy get a clue! to the character lol. I will update as I read a few more ... I tell you I sure would ike to find this lake! it sounds beautiful! HA!
I have to say the more I read this the better I feel about reading it. I was turned away by the advertisements and indorsements.. I do not like it when I see something saying that I will see God in a way I have never seen him before unless it is an ad for the Bible, ya know? So my take is the first few chapters are great... the it went crazy for a while a bit kaotic and then these last few chapters are once again clearly written and I can even handle the "mother hen" type of God, since the Word of God does mention Him as taking us under his wings as a mother bird does... Maybe at a stretch , ANyway I am in 12-13 now and am seeing the main character is Max , getting his mind cleared up on Whom God really is and how he understands more about a relationship with God HImself. What I am gaining from this book is a view of fellow Christians that I never had.. I am wondering how many do not really know God as He is? So I am glad that I had to read it if for no other reason than I am not working in my own studies and teachings to provide help to those babe's as it were who are still on milk diet. I don't mean that to sound boastful YIKES it sounded like Ithink I am all there, but I am not, I just started my relationship with HIm in one way, and I am seeing that not everyone knows Him the same? Does that make sence? I have made th emistake in the past of thinking everyone does things the same way I do, Lol, niave? (SP) or what? Lol!
I'm not contradicting what anyone has said. This is just another critique for those who like to look at issues from as many angles as possible. I copied most of the article: http://www.thebereancall.org/node/6982 Question: I'm confused by a book that is very popular among my circle of Christian friends. It's titled The Shack, and although it is endorsed by some leading evangelicals, I was freaked out by it and couldn't actually finish it. I don't understand how anyone thinks he can put God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in a fictional situation and then have them speak the words out of his own imagination. Isn't this dead wrong? Response: Yes. It's also blasphemy. Here is a definition of that word from Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language: "[It] is an injury offered to God, by denying that which is due and belonging to Him, or attributing to Him that which is not [true to] His nature." The Shack's author, William P. Young, conjures up God the Father as a hip-talking, now-and-then crude black woman referred to as "Papa," Jesus as a sometimes inept good ol' boy enamored with His humanity and creation, and the Holy Spirit as a wisp of a woman from Asia, who gardens and collects tears. Shouldn't that be enough to turn off or offend those who profess to truly know the God of the Bible? Evidently not. Christians have pushed sales of The Shack to beyond one million copies at this writing. Idolatry is another major abomination of the book. Young manufactures out of his own imagination an image of God and the Holy Spirit. That is condemned (Exodus 20:4) by God for understandable reasons. Any attempt by finite, fallen man even to hint at a material image of Deity would result in an absolutely false representation, let alone an offensive caricature of Almighty God. Furthermore, these two Persons of the Trinity are Spirits, who never appear in physical form, certainly not as females (nor in drag, which the Scriptures condemn!), nor are they ever referred to as female. The Shack is clearly the work of a false prophet. The sense in which we're using the word "prophet" here is not that of declaring forthcoming events but rather speaking forth the words of God (2 Peter 1:20-21). The dialogue Young has created for his fictional God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is heretical and a defamation against the character of the Persons of the Godhead. For example, Papa declares to the central figure, "Well, Mackenzie, don't just stand there gawkin' with your mouth open like your pants are full." Jesus, who can't seem to restrain his giggles and chuckles, after receiving a kiss from Papa and loving "her" earthiness, declares, "She's a riot." "Mack's" interaction with his "trinity" is part-time funfest, part-time inner healing methodologies and catharses, and part-time God explaining Himself (which He left out of the Bible!), and all of it intermingled with hugs, kisses, and other displays that reveal them to be so much like us. The audacity of anyone putting his own words in the mouth of God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit (under the guise of fiction or not) is beneath contempt. Incredibly, that hasn't deterred conservative evangelical leader Gale Erwin, charismatic leader James Ryle, Emerging Church writer Jim Palmer, and evangelical celebrity Michael W. Smith from endorsing The Shack, and many Christians can't seem to get enough of its "make me feel better about myself and God" talk. Cultists have written volumes claiming to speak for God; now we have it in the church! Ravi Zacharias wrote three supposedly apologetic books not too long ago featuring Jesus in conversation with Buddha, Oscar Wilde, and Confucius. Eugene Peterson, whose The Message Bible majored in substituting his own words for God's, is the featured endorser of The Shack ("This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!"). No, "this book" is one more instrument of Satan's grand scheme to undermine the Word of God for this generation, the basis of which began in the Garden of Eden with his seductive words to Eve: "Yea, hath God said...?" Space prevents me from further exposing the rampant heresies, psychobabble, and the pervasive denigration of God, His Word, and His church throughout The Shack...
wow, Ya I thought a lot of that as I was in the middle, like I said it is a mess in the middle, then the writer calms down... I dont agree with it if it were being taught as truth, I find it full of falacies too.... did I spell that one right? I don't agree with all its wording, but it does make you think... because its on a best seller list--- what kind of stuff are people reading??? I know this is fiction, a persons imagination and I knwo people can think up a lot of bazzaar things.. but I honestly do not knwo why it is on the best seller list that is for sure. I think that blaspheme is also defined as calling something that is not of God that it is, of God.... so I can sure see where some places could get that one too..... I sure would not have read this had I not been told I had to, and I have taken longer to read it than any book I have too cause its not something a person can just read over... I go through a lot of attitudes , at it about it and then at myself too! So ya I can see how that review came about! Thanks for posting it Prairie...
Thank you, Prarie. It's nice to know I'm not the only person on Earth who feels that way about this book. To be perfectly honest, the whole thing makes my heart weep. To know that so many people out there are relying on a work of fiction (dare I also say blasphemy) to find out who God is when He'll clearly tell you on His own, in His own words, if you simply ask Him to talk with you is really heart-breaking.
I stopped, I have been so busy.. I will complete it tomorrow probably after church, its my day off ...
Oka, I finished it.. and as I figured it would do it rounded it up with finding the body etc. I figured it had soemthng to do with his need to forgive to heal and all that.. I did not like the middle because it was written in a confusing way that at times leaned a bit toward "new age" thinking... I understand what the writer was trying to convey though , the need for a closer relationship with GOd, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit... the whole nutshell! Or as I explain it to kids, the whole egg! Shell White and yolk! I was a bit like me, in reading it I figured where it was going before I was half way through it, but then it became boring, because I was just waiting for it to get there.. the conversations with the people (Mama?Papa and Sarayu and Jesus) were a bit hard to follow and seemed to be repetative, but since the character was telling his side when he was all drugged up and healing from the accident that explains how that could get so messy sounding... I mean if he was really trying to write about this topic I would think it would have been more clearly written, not confusing, as we know who the author of confusion is.. this is where it caused me stress reading, because I liked the first four, and then the last two or three chapters Lol, that told it all! The inbetween was jumbled up as I said... I do not see God in a new way, but I see how the man wants to share who God is, and did his best to do so. I just don't agree with all of it, in the confusing way it was presented in the middle of the book... The end is nice, happy endings always are! I still say it is not a book I would have chosen off the shelf if it were not "required reading" and I trust I will be helping people who read it to understand God a bit more clearely as we have some really young Christians in our group who I am certain will walk away with major questions and confusion... being a weathered christian, though still I consider myself to know practically nothing, I have seen fads come and go, and books come and go which have influenced change for good and bad, but ... this is not one that I think will do a whole lot as the writer has written ---- it is a work of fiction. I know one lady is wondering about the writer, in our group, she is concerned for him having felt a "great Sadness" in his life.. Personally I think we all have at some point haven't we? Cut out the middle, rewrite it to make more Biblically acruate and make more clear sence... thats what I would do to change it... and thats my two cents worth for the moment lol... Btw I knew he would wake up there, and I wondered if something would happen but I did not see it coming! the wreck.. I also had figured no time would have passed by, as a day with the Lord is like a thousand etc. God is good, I will pray for people who read this book to not be mixed up but understand God and who He is.
It's so funny how people have such different interpretations of this book. It didn't change my perception of who God is either, but, I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author went about his writing....of course NOT forgetting this is a fictional book. I didn't feel confused by it at all, it kept me interested and anticipating each chapter.
I think in the middle I had a lot going on around me too, that can be part of it, I really did enjoy the begining and the end portions, they just were clearer to me? But yes I am enjoying reading different peoples opinions, views etc between reading so many different things online about it plus on spot, it has been a learning experience in people thats what I hve to say. We all approach God, and God stuff on our own grounds... its kinda neat how unique God made us! Oh, and probably part of the confusing part was that it took me so long to read it, cause I re read portions over and over because someone would bump it and loose my spot, or my book mark would fall out etc. I read over one whole chapter twice and didn't realise it untill I got to the end and remembered teh words I had read there! lol. Normally I can sit and read through a book that size in one read. but breaking it up I am sure had a lot to do with my not liking being told I had to read something hahah!
My dad who was just visiting from Michigan told me about this book. He is a pastor and thoroughly enjoyed it, himself, and recommended I read it. He didn't really go into detail, though, so it is nice to be able to read what some of you thought about it. I plan on getting it at library next time I go so I will try and give my thoughts after I read it.
I didn't care much for this book. There were too many things that were "out there" for my taste. It concerns me that many people I know say it's changed their lives. I had to actually force myself to continue reading it after the "Jesus" character says he's not the only way to God, but the best way. And I found it insulting that the "Jesus" character dropped a bowl and "Papa" called him clumsy. I only continued reading it so I could see why so many Christians I know think this book is so awesome. I just didn't see it myself. I think they would be much better off reading their actual Bibles and stop seeking for God in all these touchy feely kind of borderline new age thinking books. I would not recommend this book to anyone, especially a new Christian who is not grounded in their faith and cannot discern the unbiblical views expressed in this book.
yes Hoosier that is the point I put to my ladies before we even started reading it, the ladies in the group I am in, that is. That this is a work of fiction.. even though it is presented as if he thinks its true, that would be the sign of a good writer I guess if you can get people so caught up in your writing that people get emotional on both sides about it.. And newbie person I agree they did not really personfy Jesus in true light... fiction or not that bothered me too.
The book is fiction, yes, but our God is not. When an author writes a work of fiction, he can pretty much create any character he likes, simply because in this big old world, somewhere there is, more than likely, a person like that. It's one of the reasons we enjoy a good story, there might be "a little bit of me" or someone we know in the story. The problem with fictionalizing God is that he is supremely holy, just, righteous and NEVER CHANGING. God does not change with the times, as much as we would like him to sometimes. Not to be disrespectful, but in my opinion, the only people who have "had their life changed" by this book, are people who are looking for a different god than the God of the Bible. A god who is a lot more like us unfortunately. Yes, you are absolutely right that this is a work of fiction, and only that. There is no God in that book. *edit to say that even though I sound "short" I'm not upset with you ladies, but I am angry that my God has been portrayed in a manner that is untrue...even in fiction. Shouldn't I be?
